Mauricio Pochettino named a 27-man squad for the recent friendlies against Belgium and Portugal, but this is not the final roster for the 2026 World Cup. The roster included 10 changes from the squad that won against Uruguay and Paraguay in November. According to Pochettino, these friendlies marked the end of the preparation cycle for the World Cup. He will name his World Cup squad on May 26.
The team suffered two defeats in these final preparatory matches. The US lost 5-2 to Belgium on Saturday. They followed that with a 2-0 loss to Portugal on Tuesday.
What I can tell you, that everyone is saying that maybe this is the last opportunity, but it’s not close. It’s open. It’s still open. It’s not the final roster.
Injuries have complicated Pochettino's planning. Tyler Adams is rehabbing a quadricep injury with a recovery timeline of two to three weeks. Haji Wright exited a Coventry match with a groin issue. Sergiño Dest will miss the friendlies due to a hamstring injury.
Player form presents additional challenges. Gio Reyna has played only 28 minutes of competitive soccer for Borussia Mönchengladbach this year. Christian Pulisic has not scored for club or country since December 28.
Gio was fantastic in November with us. Before the last decision for the last roster for the World Cup, I think it’s good to see players that maybe are not playing too much, like in that case of Gio, that he’s a very talented player, and we know how he can add to the national team. I think we really know that he’s a very special talent and a very special player. I think to give the possibility, even if he’s not playing too much in his club, if he can be very useful for us. That is our mindset and the way that we made the decision to bring Gio in this camp.
Pochettino acknowledged the difficult decisions ahead. He said the competition for midfield spots is high and it will be tough to pick the final roster. According to Pochettino, as many as 40 players have a shot at making the 26-man World Cup roster. He also stated that the US does not have any players among the world's top 100.
Promotional activities during the training camp added another layer of complexity. Players participated in promotional activities including photo shoots for Vogue and World Cup rights holders during the training camp. Pochettino said the promotional activities took away time from focusing on the friendlies.
Argentine people feel the pressure. Football is a battle to survive. It was really an energy that was so heavy, and we didn’t deal with that.
The World Cup schedule is now coming into focus. The US World Cup opener is against Paraguay on June 12. Pochettino faces a tight timeline to finalize his squad, with the May 26 announcement approaching as he evaluates players amid injuries and inconsistent performances.
There’s pressure for us, the coaching staff. But [we have a desire that our players] perform, sending good energy – but not to create something where you say ‘it’s a tragedy if you lose.’ Because [we believe that] when you’re free, you perform. When you feel happy, you perform. You don’t need to feel the pressure. Because the pressure is a thing that if you don’t deal perfectly with it, it can be heavy.
The competition is high, and it’s going to be tough to pick the right player for the final roster. It’s a big job. I am suffering two months in advance.
It is going to be painful because that process… is going to be difficult to pick only 26 from 35, 40. Who will be there is going to be happy, who is not on the roster is going to be sad.
[This] was the end of our cycle... for preparation for the World Cup. I think this is the end because the next roster is going to be the roster that is going to be involved. I think it's too many things that we need to assess and to see in the next few weeks.
I think for sure Belgium and Portugal have in the top 100 players, a few or some playing in that top 100. I think we don’t have.
Yes, he feels frustrated, but that is what we want, what we expect. He was fighting... he's going to score because he has quality. I am sure that he's going to come back to his club and the moment that he scores, he is going to score again.
I think now they know that it's going to be a competition. They know that we are going to see every single week, every single game, and we are going to assess one year and a half or more, and we are going to make the decision.
We need to be fair with the players because the demand of ... the media from when they arrived was really intense. Yesterday they were so tired and they cannot be seen on the training ground because they wanted to rest a little bit. ... The amount of demand(s) for the World Cup make very difficult the preparation for the games.
Philadelphia, Tampa, we were focusing to prepare the game, train and focus on this and this and this and this. Or before again in Austin or in Denver. We didn’t do meetings because players going to I don’t know where. Another: 'Where I need to go where? OK, until (the) last day, we cannot talk about nothing. We were training in the middle, no, and it was tough.